As more communications networks are established, mobile devices have been developed that have the ability to communicate in multiple networks. Networks, including wireless local area networks and other wireless systems, generally have certain regions in which signals may be transmitted and received and thus the particular networks that may be accessed by a mobile device change as the device is moved from one point to another. Further, the communications networks available to a mobile device may vary greatly with regard to applications supported, communication technology used, bandwidth availability, and signal strength. In addition, there may be some locations in which no communications service is available to a mobile device. A mobile device, which may take many forms, may be transported to many different regions, each with different communications options.
In conventional communications systems, the availability and quality of communications services for a device are largely determined on a trial-and-error basis. A conventional communications system may detect changes in service for a mobile device as such changes occur, but the system does not anticipate the changes before the changes occur. In a conventional system, a user of a mobile device may move towards an area without any service coverage or towards an area in which a different transmitter is required, but the user will not be warned of the change in service until the original service is lost entirely.
Multiple services may be available to a mobile device in a particular region, but a conventional mobile device is generally required to search for each service to determine what communication connections may be made. A conventional service does not anticipate what services will be available in a region as the mobile device moves towards the region, and thus a mobile device or the user of such a device needs to have knowledge of possible communications links in order to choose the best service for a particular task. A conventional communications system may detect that a mobile device is connected to a network. However, the system may not have the capability of determining the physical location and direction of travel of the mobile device, and does not have the capability of using such information to anticipate changes in communications connectivity.